


Real World Item

by Marsalias



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Danny needs a break, Family Bonding, Gen, Ghost Lair Headcanons, Poor Danny, Reveal Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-13 03:17:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19592116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marsalias/pseuds/Marsalias
Summary: Danny Fenton shows up on ghost detectors when in the real world. What does Danny Phantom show up on in the Ghost Zone?





	Real World Item

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.

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"Thanks for covering for me this weekend," said Danny, giving his friends a weak smile. He rubbed his eyes. They had felt gritty all day, a sign that he was getting close to the end of his rope.

"No problem," said Sam.

"Yeah, and you look like you really need it," added Tucker.

"Ha, thanks," said Danny.

Jazz, however, seemed less sure. She had only just joined the 'team,' and was still learning how things worked. "I don't really understand why you need to go. I thought you said you could get all the ectoplasm and energy you needed from the air, or from Mom's cooking."

The four teens were sitting in the far corner of the schoolyard, far from prying ears. They had claimed the table as soon as the weather was nice enough to do so.

Danny made a face. "Usually, yeah." He took a bite of his sandwich. "This is different, though. I guess I could go without, but I don't want to. I mean, that's what I did for the first couple of months, but you remember what I was like."

"I thought that was because of Spectra."

"Well, partially," Danny shrugged, noting how stiff his shoulders were as he did so. "But it was a lot of different things."

"You'll have to see it sometime," said Sam. "Then you'll understand."

"Yeah," added Tucker, "it's pretty wild."

"Is it?"

"Yeah," said Danny, "but not this time. When I'm less likely to, um, zone out."

.

.

.

That evening, Danny crept down the stairs into the lab. Both his parents should be upstairs, asleep, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

That was the same reason for the 'at a friend's' ruse Jazz, Sam, and Tucker would be helping him with. His parents were busy with a new, secretive project, so busy that they likely wouldn't notice if he vanished for a couple days. But if they _did,_ Jazz and his friends had an excuse.

Confident that his parents weren't about to jump out from behind a cabinet, Danny walked across the lab to the Portal and opened the doors. He stepped through, into the Ghost Zone. Once safely there, he went ghost and flew towards his destination. It didn't take him more than two minutes to reach it.

It was a door, one that had more than a passing resemblance to the one that led to Danny's room back in FentonWorks. This was appropriate, because this door _also_ led to Danny's room. Sort of.

With a tired and relieved smile, Danny entered his lair.

.

.

.

Maddie Fenton woke up bright and early Saturday morning. She went downstairs, ate a quick breakfast, and entered the lab. The first order of business of the morning was safety checks.

She pulled the Specter Speeder out into the middle of the lab, and started going down her checklist. She was about halfway through when her husband came down.

"Hiya, Maddie," boomed Jack, as he thumped down the stairs, "I've got our supplies!" He hoisted a pair of bulging bags into her field of view.

Maddie smiled up at him. "Excellent!" she said. She would have to double-check the bags to make sure everything they needed really was in there, but not having to fetch it all was very helpful. "We should be ready to go in half an hour. Will you check and make sure the ghost shield is up? Just in case something happens while we're away?"

"Sure thing, Mads!"

Soon enough, the two Fentons were buckled in to the Specter Speeder. They weren't planning to be gone for long, but they had left a note for their children, just in case.

They flew smoothly through the open doors of the Portal, into the green haze of the Ghost Zone.

"Systems check," said Maddie when they emerged on the other side.

"Aw, Maddie, we just checked everything. It all works. We should go explore!"

"We checked it in the _real world._ Not here. Physics are different here, and we wouldn't want to get stranded. Engines first..."

Maddie trailed off as a piece of equipment beeped. She frowned. She hadn't expected the real-world item detector to go off. Real matter should be rare in the Ghost Zone, vanishingly so, according to her calculations. Perhaps it was a fluke, or it was detecting something she or, more likely, Jack, had dropped through the portal? It might even be detecting the Speeder, come to think of it. They hadn't tested it yet, after all. Its design was based entirely on theory.

Maddie scowled as another possibility occurred to her. It could be picking up something one of those rotten ghosts had stolen. Ghosts seemed to do nothing _but_ steal, some days.

Jack reached down and fiddled with the tool's knobs. Maddie's lips quirked up as she recognized the outline of first the Fenton Fisher, and then a half-eaten sandwich on the screen. So _that's_ where those had gotten to.

Jack turned the knob again, and Maddie's smile vanished, a chunk of ice coming to rest in her stomach.

"Mads," said Jack, "is that..?"

"A _person,"_ breathed Maddie. "But... Why? How?" As far as Maddie knew, she and Jack were the first people to create a working ghost portal. What she was seeing on the screen shouldn't be possible. The detector wasn't just picking up her, or Jack, either. The body type was all wrong. Whoever this was, it was young and male.

"Maybe," offered Jack, "a ghost kidnapped them? Or they fell through a natural portal?"

After a moment, Maddie nodded. "That makes sense. Either way, we need to go get them."

Jack grinned. "All right! Jack and Maddie Fenton, Ghost Zone explorers and rescuers!"

"Jack, wait! Let me finish the engine check first!"

.

.

.

They followed the signal to a door. This was odd. First, because the door wasn't attached to anything, and the signal quite clearly led _to_ the door, not around or past it. Second, because the door bore more than a passing resemblance to those in Maddie's own home.

"Do you think it might lead to a pocket universe?" asked Jack. That was the name they had given to the folded areas of spacetime they had theorized to be possible in the Ghost Zone.

"Maybe," said Maddie, regarding the door with narrow eyes. "I didn't think that they would be so... well-defined." In fact, insofar as she'd thought about it at all, she had imagined the to be like the few natural portals she and Jack had observed: swirling green holes in reality.

"Should we go through?" asked Jack.

"The Speeder won't fit."

"We can use the auto-hover."

Maddie shook her head. "We haven't tested that yet. If it drifted we'd be stranded." Her eyes went back to the on the detector. "One of us will have to stay." She looked up at her husband. "You're more familiar with the weapons on the Speeder." Jack _did_ have more practice time logged with them, even if his proficiency was rated low. "You'll have to stay."

Jack's brow furrowed. "If you say so, Maddie," he said. "Don't forget the camera. Like you say, documentation is everything in science!"

"And don't you forget the comms!" Maddie shot back, tapping the built-in Fenton Phones her suit featured.

"I won't," promised Jack. He turned his own Phones on. "Can you hear me now?"

"Loud and clear," said Maddie.

There were a few other things to do before exiting the Speeder, of course. Such as Maddie's gas mask and air canisters, pressure checks, jet-pack for maneuvering, and weapons. Maddie wasn't going to go into a dimensional pocket without protection. Who knew what kind of ghosts could be lurking behind that door? In fact, it was possible that a ghost had put the door there in the first place. True, Maddie wouldn't expect one to have the presence of mind to 'disguise' a pocket universe in such a way, in Maddie's experience ghosts couldn't think past their Obsessions, but it was possible.

She exited the Speeder with that on her mind. A ghost that sophisticated would be difficult to fight effectively, and all ghosts would be stronger in the high-ectoenergy environment of the Ghost Zone. She would have to be wary.

She opened the door, noting that it swung in. It was dark beyond the doorway, the space filled with looming shadows and the occasional glowing shape. Maddie put a foot on the doorframe, and leaned around to see the reverse side of the door. It still looked closed. Interesting. She pulled back, and stepped through the door.

The night-vision function of her goggles activated automatically, and Maddie observed her surroundings.

"It looks like I'm in some kind of forest," she said, for Jack's benefit.

"Really?" asked Jack, excited. "You mean, there's solid ground? And trees?"

"And flowers and fruit," said Maddie, examining a fat, glistening, glowing specimen. It looked something like a plum, but... not quite. There were other types of trees, and dozens of types of flowers, few of which Maddie could name.

Maddie scanned the area further. Flowers on the trees, on vines, on the ground. Fruit in various stages of development. It was quite an elaborate imitation of life, but only that. An imitation. Real fruit trees would have their fruit all in the same stage of development.

"Get a sample," urged Jack.

Maddie shook her head, then realized Jack wouldn't be able to see her. "No. These could be part of a ghost. We have to find our guy first."

"Alright," acquiesced Jack, "but we have to come back here!"

"Of course," said Maddie.

An odd shape, and a soft chiming noise caught her attention as she turned. She frowned at it, her frown deepening as she realized what it was. A wind chime. A simple one, made of pottery shards, string, and a strip of torn cloth, but a wind chime nonetheless. What would a ghost do with a wind chime? No, Maddie corrected herself as she heard more tinkling sounds, with _several_ wind chimes? Was there a ghost Obsessed with wind chimes? If so, shouldn't there be even more? And why kidnap a human?

Maddie glanced back at the door, and was surprised to see that it was set into the trunk of a huge fir tree. Question after qquestion raced through her mind, and the scientist in her longed to stop and find even a few answers. The human in her, however urged her to find the poor soul trapped here.

She looked down at her instruments, and blanched.

"Jack," she said, "the ectoenergy and ectoplasm readings here are literally off the charts. I'm receiving error messages."

"Is the portable RWID still working?" asked Jack, worried.

"Yes," said Maddie. "It's picking up you and the Speeder as well as our friend."

"I guess you don't have to worry about getting lost, huh?"

"I guess not," agreed Maddie. "I'm going forward. Standby."

"Will do."

Another thing Maddie realized, a little belatedly, was that there was a footpath running alongside the trees with chimes and bells on them. That was even more confusing. What need had a ghost for a footpath? They could fly.

A thought occurred to Maddie. What if the human she was tracking had made the chimes and the path? Was it even possible for a human to survive in the Ghost Zone for so long, like a modern Robinson Caruso? What would the physical effects be? The mental ones?

She began to hear the sound of running water, the bubbling, babbling voice of a brook. A few minutes later, the path intersected a stream, crossing it with a pair of stepping stones. Maddie, already uneasy, frowned. This level of complexity in the Ghost Zone, whose landscape should consist primarily of ectoplasmic mist and amorphous green blobs, was disturbing. What was maintaining it all?

The ground sloped slightly upwards, and the forest thinned before vanishing entirely. Maddie stood at the foot of a hill dotted with glowing, blue, poppy-like flowers. To the side, the stream flowed down the hill into the forest. The 'sky' above her was dark, and filled with greenish 'stars.' She checked the RWID. It pointed up, to the top of the hill. She began to climb, keeping up a commentary for Jack.

The hill wasn't terribly tall, but it was tall enough for Maddie to look out over the tops of the trees. Unsurprisingly, the forest was a relatively thin ring around the hill, and beyond the trees was a flat, featureless plain. Or... No. Was that an ocean?

Disturbed, Maddie turned away, and continued up. She crested the flat hilltop, and brought up her gun, startled.

At the top of the hill, the blue flowers laid thick on the ground. At the very center of the hilltop was a pool from which the stream flowed. It was surrounded by a rim of sparkling black sand. That wasn't what had surprised Maddie. Instead, it was the person, and she used that term very loosely, lying half in the pool in front of her.

Phantom.

Phantom was easily the most dangerous and persistent ghost to frequent Amity Park. Jack and Maddie had clashed with him dozens of times. He was cunning, destructive, and, worst of all, convincingly deceptive.

He was... lying nude in a pool of water, his clothing rolled into a pillow for his head, apparently asleep. As Maddie watched, his chest rose and fell. Maddie's lips thinned. Impossible. All of it, impossible. His 'clothes' should have been part of his body. He shouldn't be capable of taking them of. He certainly shouldn't be breathing.

Speaking of his body... Maddie approached cautiously. It was far too detailed. Ghosts shouldn't have scars like that, or freckles, or birthmarks.

"Maddie?" asked Jack through the Fenton Phones. "What's wrong?"

"Ghost," said Maddie, tersely.

"Be careful, Maddie."

Maddie nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her. This wasn't the time for a confrontation. She should find the human trapper here and get out. She tore her eyes away from Phantom to look down at the RWID. She looked back up at Phantom. She looked down at the RWID. She looked at Phantom. The RWID. Phantom.

Clear as day, the RWID was picking up Phantom. That... How..?

Long-term possession was the first thing that came to mind, but she dismissed it just as quickly. They had tools to detect that kind of thing, and Phantom used his powers too freely to be limited by someone else's body.

So how..? Robinson Caruso bubbled up to the surface of her thoughts. Could this be the result not of possession, but of long-term, high-level exposure to ectoplasm and ectoenergy? Could Phantom be... human?

It would explain so much. His odd, often contradictory behavior, his too-human appearance, his insistence on heroics, the way he lingered in Amity Park, if she looked at them not through the lens of dealing with a deceptive ghost, but a child hanging on to the last dregs of his humanity, all of it began to make sense.

The question was, how should she handle this? She didn't have any proof about her theory either way, and, human or not, Phantom was still dangerous. If ectoplasm had wrought such changes in his body, what could it have done to his mind? She would _like_ to take him home, and begin the process of purifying him, removing the ectoplasm and its influences, but she had no idea if that was even possible at this point.

She must have made some kind of sound, because Phantom stirred.

.

.

.

Danny had been soaking in his spring for several hours, letting his skin absorb both ectoplasm and water. As Jazz had said, he could have gotten by with stealing lab ectoplasm, or absorbing the radiant energy of the portal, but this was better, more natural, more peaceful. Here, in his lair, it wasn't just his body that was healed, it was his mind.

Here, no ghosts would bother him. There were no demands on his attention. He could look up and see the stars whenever he wanted, go down and explore the forest, eat the fruit from the trees, or swim at the beach.

Of course, there was physical healing going on as well. His bruises had been soothed away, and he had the vague feeling that his lair pulled toxins out of him just as much as it put ectoplasm in.

But... This time, something was wrong. Danny tried to ignore the feeling and keep sleeping. It was just anxiety, surely. Nothing bad could happen to him here, that was the whole point of a lair. It was safe, and secure, and nothing could hurt him. That was _important._

The feeling grew too strong to ignore, however, and Danny decided to get up, walk around a little, reassure himself. He opened his eyes.

His sleepy brain registered oversized red eyes, an elongated muzzle, and blue skin, and immediately jumped to the most obvious conclusion. _Ghost._

He scrambled away, the pile of his clothing dissolving as he lost contact with it, and reweaving itself over his skin. He brought up his hands, ectoplasm pooling around them, ready to fight. No one should be here without his permission! This was wrong! He felt _violated._

It was at this point that his brain caught up withwith his actions, and he recognized the person standing in front of him. It was his mother.

He first blushed (he'd been naked seconds ago), then paled. Was this something he would have to worry about from now on? His parents and, Ancients forbid, other ghost hunters invading his lair? His sanctuary? Would he have to (and even the idea made him vaguely ill for reasons he couldn't put into words) _lock the door_?

"Y-you shouldn't be here. You shouldn't- You're not supposed to be here," he said with all the authority he could muster. " _Go away_."

.

.

.

Maddie had almost fired at Phantom's sudden movements, and then again when his clothes reformed around his body. Surely, with that display, he couldn't be human. But the RWID still showed that damning image.

She held her fire.

It surprised her, though perhaps it shouldn't have, that Phantom held his.

"What are you?" asked Maddie.

Phantom flinched. "Don't you know?" he demanded. " _You're_ the one that runs around calling me names." His tone and posture were defensive, confused, _scared._ How had Maddie mistaken those emotions for the lies of a ghost? They were too complex, with too many layers.

Or perhaps, she thought as she noted the motes of light swirling around Phantom's hands like deadly fireflies, she was reading too far into an act. Phantom was destructive and fickle, for all that he portrayed himself as a hero. Those were ghostly traits, not human ones.

Except... children portrayed those traits frequently, didn't they?

"That isn't an answer," said Maddie.

"Maddie?" said Jack, over the Fenton Phones. "Who are you talking to?"

Maddie shook her head. She couldn't answer him right now. "Answer me!"

Phantom's jaw worked up and down, until, finally, he closed it with a snap. "No." he said. "You aren't supposed to be here. This is _my_ lair. You- You have to leave! Get out, or- or I'll make you!"

There were threats there, there was anger, but they were both so tiny and uncertain. It was like watching a child toddle around in their parent's coat and shoes.

Maddie let her aim drift downwards. Her blaster was no longer pointed at Phantom. Phantom's glare grew more suspicious, his posture more guarded.

"You show up on the RWID- our real world item detector," said Maddie. "Why?"

"I- You- I don't have to tell you anything!"

"You're not really a ghost, are you?"

Phantom fixed Maddie with a look of utter horror, and promptly disappeared.

Maddie activated the invisibility filter on her goggles, but Phantom was either long gone, or the filters weren't strong enough to counter his invisibility. She fumbled for the RWID. He was still quite visible on that device. He was also, according to the increasing magnitude of the distance vector, much faster than she had realized. Even so, he slowed and came to a restrest as she watched.

So much for making her leave.

Maddie began her trek down the hill, explaining the situation to Jack as she went.

"I guess it would explain a lot about him," said Jack. "Did I ever tell you about the time I had a truce with him? It was back when those darn ghosts tried to steal our portal!"

"No," said Maddie, "I don't think you did."

"Well, it happened," said Jack, launching into an explanation.

"I'm getting closer," said Maddie after a while. "I won't be able to talk."

"Okay, Maddie. Remember, I'm right here if you need me!"

Maddie found Phantom wedged between the roots of a large tree, back pressed up against the trunk, tears running down his face. His tears were leaving glowing green tracks in their wake.

Maddie did not raise her gun.

"What do you want?" asked Phantom, wiping his face.

"I want to know how this happened."

"How _what_ happened?"

Maddie paused for a moment. "You aren't a ghost," she said. "But you... How did that happen?"

"I _am_ a ghost," insisted Phantom.

"A ghost wouldn't show up on the RWID." Maddie wasn't sure why he kept insisting he was a ghost. Some kind of defense mechanism? Perhaps the real ghosts would harass him otherwise.

"You don't know as much about ghosts as you think you do."

The accusation hung heavily in the air between them.

"Then help me understand," said Maddie. "Start with how you have a real body."

Phantom sucked in his lower lip, then looked tentatively up at Maddie. "You're not angry with me anymore?"

Maddie considered her answer. There were plenty of things she _could_ be angry with Phantom about. Some might even say that she _should_ still be angry with Phantom. His actions didn't disappear just because the context around them changed. But that was exactly it. They didn't disappear. Not the bad deeds, and not the good ones, either.

"No," she said.

"Promise?" he asked, childishly.

Maddie hesitated. "Yes," she said, finally.

Phantom was quiet for a long time. "A portal opened on me," he said.

"And you fell through?"

"No. You don't understand. It opened _on_ me, not _near_ me. I died. But I didn't do it properly."

"You must have fallen through the portal into the Ghost Zone," started Maddie, "I can imagine that must have been very-"

"No," interrupted Phantom. "I didn't. I came out on the Material- in the real world." He was shaking. "I- But I looked different. Like this. But I- It would be better if I could show you, but you... You'd be... upset."

His eyes drifted to her weapon. She understood the implication, but she didn't want to disarm herself, even partially. Despite what she had learned _, thought_ she had learned, about Phantom, he was still dangerous. He had attacked her in the past.

Cautiously, Maddie laid her weapon on the tree roots. She had other weapons secreted about her person, but it would take time to bring them to hand.

Phantom blinked at her, apparently surprised.

"Please don't be mad," he whispered.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and Maddie was about to ask him what it was he was going to show her when there was a great flash of light. When Maddie had cleared the spots from her eyes, Phantom had changed.

"Danny?"

"Please don't be mad," he said. "I meant to tell you, I really did, but then you started shooting at me, and I was _scared_."

"Maddie," said Jack, over the Fenton Phones, "what's going on?"

"Later, Jack," she hissed. "How are you even here?"

"Dad's on the other end of the line, isn't he?"

"Danny," started Maddie, sternly, before trailing off. What should she _say?_ What _could_ she say? "Weren't you supposed to be at Tucker's?"

"Yeah. Sam and Tucker cover for me, sometimes. So does Jazz."

"But why- Why are you here?"

"It's my lair," said Danny, voice small. "Ghosts have lairs. It's just a thing."

Maddie suppressed the urge to tell her son that he wasn't a ghost. She had the feeling that doing so would be counterproductive at best. Instead, she sat down delicately on the larger of the two roots Danny was wedged between.

"So, you found it?"

"Kinda. I found it, but I also made it? It helps me heal and rest, and I can make it do stuff."

"Ah," said Maddie, eloquently. "Danny, how did this happen?"

"I was in the portal when it turned on."

" _Why?_ "

"I wanted to see if there was a loose wire or something. I don't know." Danny was crying. He had never stopped.

"It's not your fault," said Maddie. She put a hand on his shoulder. "It was never your fault."

"Do you hate me?"

"No," said Maddie. "I could never hate you."

After a moment of thought, Maddie took off her gas mask and pulled down her hood and goggles. She gave Danny a hug that he leaned into with a sigh.

"Let's go home," she said, "then we can talk to your father and Jazz, and figure... everything out."

Danny stiffened. "You're not going to try and fix me, are you?"

That was a difficult question. Of course, Maddie wanted to do just that.

"Only if you want us to," said Maddie, "or if your health is in danger."

Danny did not relax right away. "Okay," he said, quietly. "Can we just... Can we stay here for a little longer?"

Maddie truly wanted to say no. This place was unnerving. "You said this place helps you heal," she said instead. "Heal from what?"

"Things."

"Danny, how badly do you get hurt?"

"Not that badly." Danny snuggled further into the hug. "But this place is mine and it's safe. Ghosts don't go into lairs without permission. It's rude."

"I don't think ghosts care about being rude," said Maddie.

"There's a lot you don't know about ghosts."

Maddie patted Danny's shoulder. "You'll have to tell me all about it."


End file.
